The Zingers first appear in Donkey Kong Country, where they are one of the most common enemy type. As Zingers are covered in spikes, they hurt on contact and can only be defeated by having an object (such as a barrel) thrown at them or by being attacked by an Animal Friend. Zingers appear in four different palettes (yellow, orange, pink, and green), which indicate their flight pattern; they will either fly vertically (yellow), horizontally (orange), in a circular path (pink), or in a U-shaped path (green). Queen B., a giant Zinger, is the boss of Vine Valley. Unused palettes for Zingers exist as well, being silver and blue. These palettes are used in the Game Boy Advance version, however, albeit with switched wing colors.

Zingers also appear in Donkey Kong Country's pseudo-sequel Donkey Kong Land, though they are no longer color-coded due to the Game Boy's limitations. Their sprite is now in a vertical rather than horizontal orientation.

Zingers reappear in Donkey Kong Country's sequel Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. They are found in a majority of the levels in this game except those taking place underwater. This time Zingers only come in two colors, the standard yellow variety, and the invincible red variety. According to the game's credits, Zingers belong to the "Lazy Landlubbers" enemy class. Several levels, mostly in Krazy Kremland, take place in beehives invaded by Zingers. Another giant Zinger, King Zing, appears in this game as the boss of Krazy Kremland.

Zingers also appear in Donkey Kong Land 2, where, once again, they are not color-coded due to hardware limitations.

A single Zinger appears as an antagonist in the Donkey Kong Country novel. Upon entering the Kremling's factory, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Cranky Kong eavesdrop on Zinger complaining to his co-worker Klap Trap about King K. Rool's absence. Klap Trap then notices the group and Zingers lunges at Donkey Kong, only to be defeated by being hand slapped. The Kongs destroy the factory shortly after.

A Zinger appears in the Club Nintendo comic "Donkey Kong Country" as an enemy of Donkey and Diddy Kong. However, it does not attack the pair until Donkey Kong swears at the wasp. Ultimately, Donkey defeats the Zinger (which, like every enemy in the comic, is able to speak) by doing a special rolling move and then kicking the enemy. When defeated, the Zinger claims that its stinger is deformed.

Zingers return in Donkey Kong 64. In this game they are less common than in previous titles and are easier to defeat. In DK Isles and the earlier levels, some of them will simply dive-bomb on sight (there is only one Zinger in Gloomy Galleon inside the mechanical fish, that will drop Oranges at the player), but they are easy to avoid. Other Zingers will drop green Oranges on sight. The Kongs can simply blast the wasp with one of the weapons they can purchase from Funky Kong, play their musical instrument, or throwing Orange grenades at it. In Fungi Forest, Zingers appear during the day, and are replaced by Flip-Flaps at night.

Some early promotional material showed that Zingers were going to be rideable in the now canceled game Donkey Kong Racing. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a Zinger appears as a Sticker. It raises resistance to slashing attacks (such as Link's sword) by five points, and the sticker can be used by any character.

It'd be a ton of fun to ride on a Zinger, flying high up into the sky. Too bad they're covered in spikes and not all that friendly to begin with. Zingers come in different colors, with the yellow ones flying up and down and the red ones flying in circles. We don't want to spoil it, so you'll have to play to find out what the others do!

It'd be great if you could fly through the sky on a Zinger - too bad they're covered in spikes and far too nasty to let you. The yellow ones fly up and down while the red ones go round in circles. Want to know more? Go and check them out yourself, then. No promises you'll come back in one piece, though!

Steve Mayles, who was involved in character design for Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, confirmed via Twitter that he dislikes wasps in real life, and designing the Zinger enemy scared him.[2]